1989 German motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1989 German motorcycle Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 26–28 May 1989 at the Hockenheimring circuit.

  1989 German Grand Prix

Race details
Race 6 of 15 races in the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	28 May 1989
Official name	Großer Preis von Deutschland für Motorräder
Location	Hockenheimring
Course	Permanent racing facility 6.789 km (4.218 mi)
500 cc
Pole position Rider Kevin Schwantz Time 2:02.620 Fastest lap Rider Kevin Schwantz Time 2:02.680 Podium First Wayne Rainey Second Eddie Lawson Third Mick Doohan
250 cc
Pole position Rider Helmut Bradl Time 2:11.040 Fastest lap Rider Sito Pons Time 2:10.990 Podium First Sito Pons Second Reinhold Roth Third Masahiro Shimizu
125 cc
Pole position Rider Ezio Gianola Time 2:23.640 Fastest lap Rider Julián Miralles Time 2:24.160 Podium First Àlex Crivillé Second Ezio Gianola Third Julián Miralles
80 cc
Pole position Rider Stefan Dörflinger Time 2:32.240 Fastest lap Rider Unknown Podium First Peter Öttl Second Manuel Herreros Third Herri Torrontegui

The weekend was marred by the fatal accident of Italian-born Venezuelan rider Iván Palazzese in the 250cc race, who died after running into the back of Andreas Preining's seized motorcycle. Palazzese was then struck by Bruno Bonhuil and Fabio Barchitta while trying to pick himself up from the ground, causing him to suffer massive chest injuries that would result in his death.

500 cc race report

The front of the grid is Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson, who stay in that order through the first few turns, though Mick Doohan soon takes third spot behind Lawson and Rainey, pushing Schwantz into third.

Lawson seems to miss a shift at a chicane, and lets Rainey and Schwantz through, who have become the leading group of three. The group is tight, and Schwantz still hasn’t broken himself of the habit of looking behind him for no good reason.

Lawson puts himself at the front again, while back down the field Niall Mackenzie crashes out.

Schwantz develops a mechanical problem and drops out, leaving Lawson and Rainey to fight it out for first and Doohan and Christian Sarron for third place.

Last lap: Lawson ahead for the first half, but Rainey gets past on the brakes to a chicane. Going into the stadium section, Rainey is doing everything to keep Lawson behind him, doing a tremendous slide on his Dunlops. Rainey takes a very close win from Lawson, with a big gap to Doohan, then Pierfrancesco Chili and Sarron.

Two DNFs in a row seem to have ended Schwantz' hope for the championship, who was already pessimistic since his crash at Jerez. Schwantz can still affect the outcome of the championship by getting between Lawson and Rainey and denying the latter some points. Rainey and Lawson needle each other after the race and then say nothing to each other for the rest of the season.

A 23-year old Mick Doohan achieved his first 500cc podium on this day.

500 cc classification

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Wayne Rainey	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	19	39:14.750	2	20
2	Eddie Lawson	Rothmans Kanemoto Honda	Honda	19	+0.270	3	17
3	Mick Doohan	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda	19	+20.710	6	15
4	Pierfrancesco Chili	HB Honda Gallina Team	Honda	19	+25.720	5	13
5	Christian Sarron	Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1	Yamaha	19	+37.000	4	11
6	Norihiko Fujiwara	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha	19	+42.980	11	10
7	Kevin Magee	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	19	+43.540	10	9
8	Dominique Sarron	Team ROC Elf Honda	Honda	19	+44.980	13	8
9	Freddie Spencer	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha	19	+53.020	9	7
10	Rob McElnea	Cabin Racing Team	Honda	19	+1:08.530	12	6
11	Ernst Gschwender	Suzuki Deutschland	Suzuki	18	+1 Lap	15	5
12	Randy Mamola	Cagiva Corse	Cagiva	18	+1 Lap	14	4
13	Alessandro Valesi	Team Iberia	Yamaha	18	+1 Lap	16	3
14	Simon Buckmaster	Racing Team Katayama	Honda	18	+1 Lap	18	2
15	Bruno Kneubuhler	Romer Racing Suisse	Honda	18	+1 Lap	19	1
16	Hansjoerg Butz	Autobus Butz Racing Team	Honda	18	+1 Lap	22
17	Rachel Nicotte		Chevallier Yamaha	18	+1 Lap	20
18	Vittorio Scatola		Honda	18	+1 Lap	23
19	Juan Lopez Mella	Club Motocross Pozuelo	Honda	18	+1 Lap	32
20	Petr Schleef	Schuh Racing Team	Honda	18	+1 Lap	24
21	Michael Rudroff	HRK Motors	Honda	18	+1 Lap	17
22	Josef Doppler		Honda	18	+1 Lap	25
23	Peter Linden	Team Heukeroff	Honda	18	+1 Lap	28
24	Stefan Klabacher		Honda	18	+1 Lap	30
25	Helmut Schutz	Rallye Sport	Honda	18	+1 Lap	31
26	Hans Klingebiel		Suzuki	18	+1 Lap	33
Ret	Ron Haslam	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki		Retirement	8
Ret	Georg Robert Jung	Romer Telefix	Honda		Retirement	21
Ret	Marco Gentile	Fior Marlboro	Fior		Retirement	27
Ret	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki		Retirement	1
Ret	Roland Busch	Schuh Racing Team	Honda		Retirement	35
Ret	Karl Dauer	PC Racing	Honda		Retirement	34
Ret	Alois Meyer	Rallye Sport	Honda		Retirement	29
Ret	Martin Troesch		Honda		Retirement	36
Ret	Nicholas Schmassman	FMS	Honda		Retirement	26
Ret	Niall Mackenzie	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha		Retirement	7
DNQ	Marco Papa	Team Greco	Paton		Did not qualify
DNQ	Andreas Leuthe	Librenti Corse	Suzuki		Did not qualify
DNQ	Francisco Gonzales	Club Motocross Pozuelo	Honda		Did not qualify
DNQ	Vincenzo Cascino		Honda		Did not qualify
DNQ	Walther Maier	Rallye Sport	Honda		Did not qualify
Sources: